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Experts are a valuable addition to political communication as would be the advice of experts in any field of business . Experts command a high level of credence and having one as part of the political communications or campaign team is always value addition to any political campaign . is more aspirational , better educated and more exposed . They are also very digital savvy and are exposed to new ideologies via different online channels on a daily basis .
COMPLACENT MARKETING

Persuasion , Elections , And Why PR Matters

By Diana Obath

As Kenya gears up for its general elections set for August 2022 , it appears that voters are already aligned to specific parties or individuals , and they know precisely what they want . The politicians however also have an idea of what their voters want . Just like in business , knowledge will help keep any politician or political party relevant and competitive .

Voters no longer want to feel like messages have been stitched in time for them to tell them exactly what they want and serve their interests , they are also interested in helping the parties craft those messages and how they will deliver their manifestos . For PR people , this means that political messages must be crafted for impact not for action for them to be relevant to the intended target groups .
Voter personas like buyer personas come into play and have changed the way public relations operates . These personas give different insights into the experiences that the voters are looking forward to . The age old , scripted narratives no longer have a place in today ’ s persuasive politics .
When organizations draw up buyer personas , they outline exactly what the buyer personas are through mapping out the type of audiences they want to target with their products and services , and how well they can help them to achieve their own goals . The present-day political landscape also calls for a definition of the targeted voter , who they are and how to craft messages that can help them define how to achieve their own goals by supporting a specific political party or individual .
The largest advantage that personas present is that they are data driven . This means there are no assumptions or guess work when profiling personas . Their preferences and personalities are well defined , and their fears and aspirations well stated . When a business must guess who their customers are , what they like and why they purchase their products , most often the success is short term based off on the trial phase of the campaign .
Data driven insights detail the customers and the same should be applied to political communication . The present-day voter

Experts are a valuable addition to political communication as would be the advice of experts in any field of business . Experts command a high level of credence and having one as part of the political communications or campaign team is always value addition to any political campaign . is more aspirational , better educated and more exposed . They are also very digital savvy and are exposed to new ideologies via different online channels on a daily basis .
Data driven political communication and campaigns will therefore present politicians with the changing interests of the voter and help carry more defined messages that voters will be able to better relate with .
Data-driven messaging also creates insights that inform strategy for organizations . The same approach can be used to create a more definitive manifesto for political communication . Insights allow one to better understand different personas and the point of departure of the various personas based on other characteristics and demographics . Instead of relying therefore on standard communication efforts targeted at a broad public , with insights political communicators can identify the issues that make their voters tick and identify the real reasons why they will vote for them .
Insights help create a strong correlation between a brand and its customers and will make the customers go out of their way to promote the brand . While politics may be more emotive than a brand association , insights will help politicians develop messages that allow their supporters to factually promote their ideologies , advocate for their ideas , generate interest in their messages and in turn persuade people to vote for them . An undecided individual is always dependent on recommendations from people in their own social circles and a compelling reason to believe can only be drawn from data and insights .
The good thing about data driven messaging is that it is fluid and flexible . The messaging
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